Director of 'Drive My Car' surprised by Oscar, popularity

Motors have been left wrecked with a man in hospital following a three-car crash in Fife.

A Scots mum has been left traumatised after a pensioner ploughed his car into her living room leaving her young daughters trapped upstairs.

EXCLUSIVE: Los Angeles-based Synepic Entertainment is launching Sakka, a streaming service specializing in Japanese cinema. The platform will debut in North America and select further territories in early May, the company said. At launch, it will feature five movies: Happy Hour, the 2015 movie from recent Oscar nominee Ryusuke Hamaguchi; Shô Miyake’s 2018 feature And Your Bird Can Sing; Seiji Tanaka’s 2018 film Melancholic; Chihiro Amano’s 2019 pic Mrs Noisy; and Hajime Tsuda’s 2020 drama Daughters. Synepic said it was focusing on independent films and would be acquiring two further titles later in the summer. The company is also looking to host in-person screenings of films it acquires. “We are beyond proud to create this unique platform for Japanese films of new generations,” commented Chiaki Yanagimoto, the president of Synepic Entertainment and the founder of the platform. “There are many Japanese films that unfortunately don’t see their full potential outside of Japan because of the traditional distribution system there. After the win of Drive My Car, several critics pointed out that the Japanese system is outdated and indifferent to the international market. It is time to change that narrative and find new ways to share these inspiring works coming from Japan, and create a platform that truly cares about the films and the filmmakers.”

EXCLUSIVE: Soo Joo Park (Sense8), Brock O’Hurn (The Righteous Gemstones), Bella Thorne (Measure of Revenge), Laird Hamilton (Point Break) and Duke Nicholson (Us) are the latest additions to the cast of the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by star Vito Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.

Shanna Moakler is making her thoughts known regarding her ex-husband’s unexpected wedding!

Prolific Japanese director Sion Sono, known for such films as Love Exposure and Antiporno, as well as the recent Nicolas Cage-starrer Prisoners Of The Ghostland, has reportedly been accused of sexual harassment by several actresses in Japan.

Shukan Josei link his alleged predatory behavior to his acting workshops, and in addition to the two unnamed women, the piece also includes a quote from a Japanese film executive who accused Sono of misconduct. “Even now, there is a director who has no qualms about saying ‘If you screw me, I’ll give you work’. His films are acclaimed and many actresses want to appear in them.

Sion Sono, the self-proclaimed maverick Japanese film director known for raunchy indie movies including “Love Exposure” and “Antiporno,” has been accused of sexual harassment by several actresses in Japan’s film industry.The accusations were published Monday by the Shukan Josei PRIME entertainment news and gossip site. In a lengthy article, several actresses made accusations against Sono under the protection of anonymity.

Transformers director Michael Bay wasn’t watching the Oscars so he missed everything that went down, including the moment when best actor winner Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face on the Oscar stage. 

EXCLUSIVE: Steven Dorff (Old Henry), John McEnroe (Ocean’s Eight), Gina Gershon (Emily the Criminal) and Luka Sabbat (Grown-is) have signed on to star alongside Vito Schnabel in the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.

Sony’s dive into the deeper waters of Marvel with vampire anti-hero Morbius looks to be shaping up to be a new franchise for the Culver City studio. Industry estimates are pegging around $17M today with a shot at an opening north of $40M for the $75M feature production.

EXCLUSIVE: Taylour Paige (Zola) has signed on to star alongside Vito Schnabel in The Trainer, the upcoming dark comedy, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentHamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Drive My Car” is now making headlines in Japan after winning the best international feature Oscar. The film is only the second from the country to take the prize, the previous one being the 2008 “Departures.” Released domestically in August, “Drive My Car” had earned only $250,000 by the end of 2021, despite winning three awards at Cannes, including best screenplay for Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa.

Jane Campion has made history once again. Just the second woman nominated for Best Director in 1994 for “The Piano,” she now has become the third woman to win the prestigious Oscar category for “The Power of the Dog.” This is her second Oscar statue after winning Best Original Screenplay for the aforementioned “Piano.” READ MORE: Kirsten Dunst: “Roles Are Only As Good As The Films They’re In” [Interview] The Australian native has won a cavalcade of Best Director honors for “The Power of The Dog,” including the DGA Award, the BAFTA Award, the Golden Globe, the LA Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, a Venice Film Festival honor, and the Critics Choice Award.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car scooped the International Feature Film Oscar tonight, becoming the second movie from Japan to take a competitive prize in the category formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film (it’s the fifth for Japan if we count honorary awards given out in the 1950s).

Japan has won the award, and the first time since 2008.It beat out Italy’s “The Hand of God,” Norway’s “The Worst Person in the World,” Denmark’s “Flee” and Bhutan’s “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom.”———For more of AP’s Oscar coverage visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards

Not surprisingly, the most celebrated film of the year took one of the most coveted Oscars in the world. No, this isn’t about “Power of the Dog” or the Best Picture race.

Apple TV+’s newest drama Pachinko, based on the award-winning book of the same name by Min Jin Lee, offers poignant takeaways about family, survival and love. But, viewers should also expect to walk away with The Grass Roots’ “Let’s Live For Today” stuck in their heads.

Shinji Aoyama, the Japanese film director, writer and composer known for the film “Eureka,” which won him two prizes at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, died March 21 in Tokyo after a battle with esophageal cancer, according to local reports. He was 57.Aoyama made waves in the international film community when he premiered “Eureka” at Cannes.